@nospam: "I've decided that a $199 16g Blackberry Playbook is too good
a deal to pass up so I'm gonna get one, no matter what the iPad3
turns out to be.
After a lot of cogitation I finally figured out (duh) that for my
purposes a tablet is more of an entertainment appliance than
a computer.
Of course, I might also get myself a Bluetooth keyboard+mouse 
and make the thing into a... micro-laptop?
<url>
SQ"
    @jollyroger: "wrote:
<quote>
What type of response do you expect?
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.
JR"
    @nospam: "<quote>
I was hoping that someone who already has a Playbook would
come up with a downside that I haven't thought of.
For instance is 16g enough? Should I go for 32g? Actually
I was thinking of getting a wireless (such as Bluetooth)
portable drive where content can be uploaded to it via USB
from a computer and then accessed wirelessly from the tablet.
I'll probably get an iPad eventually, especially with the hi-res screen
predicted for the iPad3. But the iPad is too bulky to carry around
when I'm away from home; the Playbook is much more portable.
SQ"
    @nospam: "<quote>
there aren't very many people who have playbooks. rim can't even get
rid of them with the price cuts.
depends how much stuff you want to put on it. someone who wants to have
many videos will need more space than someone who does everything
online.
try a kindle fire. it's the same size as a playbook and it doesn't
suck. unlike the playbook, it actually sold more than a few copies."
    @fort514: "wrote:
<quote>
If it is more for entertainment it seems like a Kindle Fire would be a
better choice than a Playbook.
Charles"
    @tkettler: "<quote>
A big downside is that it is almost impossible to find an owner of one 
to discuss the downsides or upsides.
Remove blown from email address to reply."
    @alanbrowne: "<quote>
What's that expression about being disappointed for a long time after 
the short thrill of the low price has worn off?
"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
  I said I didn't know."
                           -Samuel Clemens."
    @alanbrowne: "<quote>
I played with one at Best Buy a couple weeks ago.  It got into a hung 
state that I, nor the staff there, could unfreeze.
"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
  I said I didn't know."
                           -Samuel Clemens."
    @nospam: "<quote>
anything would be a better choice than a playbook. it's a dead end. rim
probably won't be around much longer at the rate they're going."
    @michelle: "<quote>
What's that expression about replying to trolls?  <g>
Tea Party Patriots is to Patriotism as 
People's Democratic Republic is to Democracy."
    @elecconnec: "<quote>
screen
The Playbook sucks far less now that it can run many Android apps from
RIM's store, and with a little effort, many more can be sideloaded.
The Playbook is almost hardware identical to the Fire, except the
Playbook has more storage (16GB vs. 8GB), an SD slot to increase storage,
bluetooth, hardware volume buttons (something Fire owners really miss!)
and cameras, making it a better general-purpose low-budget iPad
substitute than the Fire.
The Playbook also has a Kindle app, so it can read Kindle books.
The only real advantages to the Fire are that there are more Android apps
available without going to the trouble of converting and sideloading, and
it plays Amazon Prime video (with $79/year Prime membership.)"
    @jcdilllists: "<quote>
I did similar research before buying my iPad.  I just asked people how 
many gigs they had on their device, and what were the major disk-space 
uses.  Most people were not using even 10g, but those that were, their 
major uses were movies, music, photos.  If you don't need to keep a lot 
of movies on your device, and your music library isn't very big, and you 
aren't a professional photog, then 16g is plenty.
jc"
    @nospam: "Thanks for the replies everyone.
Further to my OP:
I went to the Future Shop today to buy one... but couldn't decide
between 16 and 32 gigs. So I went home to rethink. However,
the 64g model is sold out in all their outlets, so that tells me
fdavies@example.net.
Yes the machine has flaws. But they're mostly in usages I'm
not interested in. What it does do is pretty well what I want
it for.
Tablets seem to be still in their infancy. Lots of companies are
entering the market and floundering about trying to discover
what works (and what sells). Even the awesome iPad has some
deal-breakers (for me at least).
But it feels a lot different than the freewheeling early days of Apple,
when individual hobbyists and user groups had a lot more say.
The Apple ][ had an open hardware architecture; you could even
build your own plug-in boards. No one ever used the word "jailbreaking"
to describe taking control of your own computer  because owners
already had control.
Now the machines seem to be designed by marketing departments
who think they know better what users need than the users themselves.
The results are often awkward, as if some kind of heavy-handed
bureaucratic spirit were embodied in both the hardware and software.
Actually, I don't think I'll like BB's Desktop Manager any more than
the iTunes bloatware, but the thing is it's only going to cost me
something like a third the cost of an iPad to find out.
Anyway in 2 days we'll discover what new wondrous contraptions Apple
is going to unveil  but I won't be the 1st to buy one. I never am;
I'd rather let others be the guinea pigs and public beta testers and
then get one later on when the teething pains and bugs have been
shaken out and the product has matured somewhat (like an aged wine).
Regards, SQ"
    @nospam: "wrote:
<quote>
that could be because they didn't have very many of the 64 gig model.
which is?
what might those be?
you still have control and jailbreaking is not required, nor does
anyone need to build plug-in boards just to get work done. those days
are long gone, thankfully.
nonsense. you can customize it just as easily, if not more so.
and then when you realize it's a dead end, it will cost you more to get
something that actually works.
meanwhile, apple has refurbished ipads for as little as $299, with full
warranty.
but you'll buy rev 1 of a playbook.
the 'guinea pigs' have been buying ipads for 2 years already and
iphones for 5 years. the ipad that gets announced tomorrow will be the
3rd revision. the teething pains are long gone."
    @howard: "On Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:35:43 -0800, jcdill <email_address>
wrote:
<quote>
I wish I could fit my iTunes music on my iPad, not to mention all of
my digital copies of movies.   But 64 G is not enough, even
compressed.
I've been storing less and less music as I have more apps.   Since
it's hard to get feedback from my grandkids on which apps to keep, I
don't purge them that often.
On my iPad 1, I have enough apps that I've given up trying to delete
them except via iTunes.    Even when deleting them with my finger on
my iPad works, it takes 15 minutes.   But it usually doesn't work. The
Apple store greeter says this is because I have too many apps.
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace 
to the legislature, and not to the executive department." 
- James Madison"
    @nospam: "<quote>
next time, ask someone who knows something about ipads, not the
greeter, who in this case hasn't a clue.
the number of apps does not make a difference in how long it takes to
delete an app. usually it's almost instant but on occasion, it may take
a few seconds to delete an app, nothing even remotely close to 15
minutes. i think the longest i've seen was 10 seconds or so, and that's
with well over 300 apps installed."
    @howard: "On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:23:38 -0800, nospam <email_address>
wrote:
<quote>
Will do.
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace 
to the legislature, and not to the executive department." 
- James Madison"
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